According to recent reports, ingredients from soybeans, Glycine max (L.) Merr., are capable of modulating immune responses, preventing carcinogenesis, and inhibiting tumor growth. See, e.g., Zhang et al., Nutr. Cancer, 1997, 29: 24-28; Zhou et al., J. Nutr., 1999, 129: 1628-635; Benjamin et al., Brazilian J. Med. Biol. Res., 1997, 30: 873-881; Rao et al., J. Nutr., 1995, 125 (suppl 3): S717-S724; and Meydani et al., J. Am. Colle. Nutr., 1991, 10: 406-428.
Black soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is a soybean cultivar with a black seed coat. It has been used for at least hundreds of years in traditional Chinese medicine.
It has also been reported that herbal prescriptions containing black soybeans and other herbs increased the number of white blood cells in leukopenic patients. See Wang, Trad. Chi. Med. Res., 1992, 5: 35-36. However, it is not clear whether any compound or compounds in black soybeans account, fully or in part, for the therapeutic effect.